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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24478921">Gehat'ik be'kara'e - Story of Stars</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Different_frequency/pseuds/Different_frequency'>Different_frequency</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>What We Seek [4]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Star Wars - All Media Types, The Mandalorian (TV)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Buir is Back, Constellations, Creative Bedtime Routines, F/M, Fluff, Force projections, Gen, Star Stories, Stars, Story-Telling, The Force, Traditional Stories, constellation stories, story-time</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-05-31</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-05-31</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-04 03:07:47</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,214</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24478921</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Different_frequency/pseuds/Different_frequency</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Tali and Ruhi started a new bedtime routine while Din is off-world. Din gets a look into another world of snow bears and hunters.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Din Djarin/Original Female Character, The Mandalorian (The Mandalorian TV)/Original Female Character(s)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>What We Seek [4]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1714399</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>55</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Gehat'ik be'kara'e - Story of Stars</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Our lovely trio is going to be on a bit of a hiatus while I work on something else for awhile, but I wanted to leave y'all with something. This one-shot takes place half-way through the sequel to Last Place You'd Look. Ruhi is mostly non-verbal at this point, and communicates largely by sign language. Din has been off-world on several weeks, and has just returned Yavin-4 earlier in the day from when this takes place. Enjoy!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The wind woke him, rattling the shutters on the windows and moaning through cracks in the old walls. He lay for a moment with his eyes still closed, bone-deep exhaustion present in every joint of his body. Spending weeks on the <em> Crest </em> catching at most a few hours of sleep at a time had reminded him how uncomfortable the pilot’s chair was for anything more than a short nap. </p><p><em> You’re goin’ soft, Djarin</em>, Paz’s voice drawled. </p><p>Finally opening his eyes, Din looked to the pram next to the bed, and adrenaline flooded him when he saw it open and empty. He sat up and pushed past the lingering ache in his back from the incident on Gardaroc, looking around. Ruhi was nowhere to be found, and he toggled to the infrared setting in his helmet as he strode to Tali’s room. He found neither woman nor child. </p><p>Shoving his feet into his boots and grabbing his blaster, he ducked out the doorway and looked over the path and down the hill. Nothing. His heart pounded as he slowly scanned the path behind him.</p><p><em> There</em>.</p><p>Two signatures lay prone in the grass up the hill, and he broke into a run. As he approached the figures, the wind carried Tali’s voice to him and he listened, breathing fast. The audio sensor amplified her voice and he heard an answering coo, and a wave of relief poured through him like a drug. He let the blaster drop and walked the rest of the way to them more slowly, the wind pressing his shirt to his body. </p><p>Tali didn’t look up until he was almost standing over them, and then tilted her head further back and smiled.<br/>
<br/>
“Hey, you.” She was wrapped in the grey blanket from her bed, and he could just see a pair of dark eyes and the rounded tops of Ruhi’s ears showing above the edge of it at her shoulder. </p><p>“Woke up and you were both gone.” </p><p>Her smile fell. “Oh sorry, I didn’t even think--” </p><p>“It’s fine. Just didn’t know where you went.” He looked out over the darkened ridge. “What’re you doing out here?” </p><p>She worked one hand out of the blanket and patted the grass next to her. “Sit. I’m getting a crick in my neck.” </p><p>Din sat down next to her. The wind was quieter here, the hill creating a shelter from it. </p><p>“We were talking about the stars.” Tali said, looking down at Ruhi, who turned his head to look at Din. He brought a tiny hand out from the blanket and reached for him. Din encased the child’s tiny hand in his and Ruhi tugged lightly. </p><p>“Think he wants you to lay down.” Tali grinned and lifted the blanket. “Come on, it’s warmer under here.” </p><p>Din hesitated, looking around but not seeing another soul in sight. Keeping the blaster within reach, he slid under the upheld blanket and settled himself next to her. Ruhi immediately curled into his side and Din tucked an arm under the child. Tali moved so her head rested on his shoulder, still looking up at the star-strewn sky. </p><p>“This alright?” she asked quietly. </p><p>Din hummed, tucking the blanket around the both of them and settling his head back into the grass. Satisfied with his two favorite people so close, Ruhi looked back to Tali and brought two of his claws together above his chest, pushing them upwards towards the sky. </p><p>She smiled, “Keep going?” </p><p>He moved a closed fist up and down. </p><p>“Alright, where were we?” She looked up again, her head shifting on Din’s shoulder. “That’s right, we were talking about the snow bears.” </p><p>She brought her hand up over them and a pack of massive, white-furred creatures walked slowly across the stars above them on all-fours, their massive heads swinging back and forth in her projection.</p><p>“Away in the high north of a planet, far from this one, lived a tribe of snow bears. They were huge creatures with thick fur and sharp teeth and long claws, and terrified most of the local villagers. But the secret of the bears was that they were kind and gentle with their own. The leader of this tribe, and the strongest among them, was called Nanurjuk.” </p><p>As she spoke, she brought her other hand out from under the blanket and signed along with her words. The signs were simplified, but she had clearly been practicing while he was gone. Din smiled as Ruhi watched both the projection and her signs with curious eyes. </p><p>“One day, a woman left her village and family, and walked across the ice for many days, until she grew weak and tired. The bears found her, and carried her back to their home. They cared for her and brought her meat from the seals they hunted. The woman lived among the bears for several moons and was happy, for the bears’ fur was warm and soft, and they were kind to her. But eventually, the woman missed her home and her family, and she went before Nanurjuk and asked if she could return to see them.” </p><p>Din saw the dark-haired woman, wearing seal-skin boots and a coat of rayboo fur, standing before the huge white snow bear and gesturing back across the ice, and saw the bear tilt his massive head. The story seemed to take on its own life through her voice and the images, and he was as captivated as the tiny child at his side. </p><p>“Nanurjuk agreed, on one condition. The woman could not tell her people that she had found refuge with the snow bears, or reveal the location of the bears’ home. The woman agreed, and journeyed back across the ice to her home. All was well with the tribe until one day when they saw hunters off in the distance, coming across the ice with their toboggans and their hunting dogs. The woman had broken her word and told her people about the snow bears, and the hunters had come for them.” </p><p>He heard a small noise from the child at his side and looked down to find his eyes wide and worried. Din cuddled Ruhi closer as above them he saw the bears watch the hunters approach from far away, their dogs baying with the scent of the bears and the men whooping. </p><p>“Nanurjuk ran out onto the ice, just as the hunters released five dogs. The dogs took off after Nanurjuk as he led them away from his tribe, leaving the other bears to flee, forgotten by the hunters. Nanurjuk raced across the ice, faster and faster, the dogs still behind him as the hunters fell further and further back. They ran so far and so fast that they ran right off the edge of the world and into the blackness of the sky.” </p><p>As Tali drew her hand in a long arc over her head, Din saw the shadow of the massive bear and the five hunting dogs in the stars above them, racing across the sky. </p><p>“Many moons later, four of the hunters found the shadow of Nanurjuk in the sky, their hunting dogs long ago exhausted. They climbed up and up into the stars, far above the planet’s surface, until Nanurjuk seemed just within reach. But one of the hunters dropped his mittens, and they fell down through the darkness to the ground far below. Feeling the icy cold on his hands and knowing they would freeze without his warm mittens, the hunter turned back, and began the long trek down to the surface. When he looked up again, he found his three fellow hunters in the sky, dwarfed by the light from brave Nanurjuk.” </p><p>She pointed as she spoke, indicating three small stars winking in a semi-circle around one bright, burning star. </p><p>“Nanurjuk keeps the three hunters trapped in the sky with him, and the bears of his tribe live in peace far, far below on the ice and snow.”</p><p>She tucked her hands back under the blanket and looked over to Ruhi, whose eyes were barely more than slits now. He yawned hugely and crawled up onto Din’s chest, tucking his head under Din’s chin in his preferred spot. Din tugged the blanket up higher to cover the child’s ears and felt Ruhi burrow into him, his claws clenched loosely in the fabric of his shirt. </p><p>“How long has this been going on?” He asked quietly. He felt Tali turn her face towards him, her voice soft near the audio sensor of his helmet. </p><p>“Since the night you left. First few days I couldn’t get him to sleep inside. He wouldn’t settle unless I had him outside so he could see the sky and keep watch for you.” </p><p>Something clenched in his chest. “Thanks for looking after him.” </p><p>“Of course. I’m a poor substitute for <em> buir</em>, though.” He could hear the smile in her voice and lifted his shoulder to jostle her head lightly. She laughed and they settled into a companionable silence, the only sound the wind rustling through the trees in the distance. </p><p>“Where’d you learn that story?” He asked finally.  </p><p>She let out a long breath. “My father. He knew so many stories and songs. I’ve forgotten a lot of them, but Nanurjuk was always one of my favorites.” </p><p>A particularly strong gust of wind tore over them and Tali shivered.</p><p>“C’mere.” Din held an arm out and she shifted over until she was pressed tightly to him, her cheek pillowed on his shoulder. He wrapped his arm around her and she made a small contented sound. </p><p>“Glad you’re back.” Tali murmured. </p><p>“Me too. Didn’t feel right, being away from him. From both of you.” The wind seemed to snatch the words from the air as he said them, making them easier to speak. Tali pressed a little closer to him, her boots nudging his shin. </p><p>He could feel the ground beneath them slowly seeping the heat from his body. “You planning on sleeping out here?” </p><p>“No, wind picks up at night here,” she mumbled, and lifted her head. “You got him?” </p><p>Din nodded and sat up, tucking the blanket around Ruhi as he stood into the full force of the wind sweeping over them. He curved his body over Ruhi’s as Tali followed him back down to the low building and out of the wind. </p><p>Unwinding the blanket from around the sleeping child, he handed it back to her as she yawned. Tali leaned over to brush a soft kiss to Ruhi’s head and went up on her toes to touch her forehead to his before she disappeared into her own room. </p><p>Settled back under his own blankets with Ruhi snug under his chin, breathing slowly, Din thought back to the story Tali had told. He’d felt the muscles in his neck and shoulders relax as she’d woven the story, her hands moving fluidly through the signs. The added dynamic of the moving images, like paintings across the sky, was unlike anything he’d ever seen, and he could see why the Armorer had referred to those like Tali as sorcerers. </p><p>He thought back to the stories his <em> buir </em> had told him, in those first few months after he was brought back to Concordia when he still woke shaking and crying. His <em> buir </em> had sat with him on the couch in the dark living room, one huge hand smoothing over his back as his deep voice resonated within his chest. The stories had all been of the <em> mando’ade</em>, stories about great battles, about how their <em> yaim </em> had come to be, and countless other tales of bravery and cleverness. Over the months he'd heard them over and over, until Din could speak the words along with his <em> buir </em>in the darkness, his mind conjuring images of each tale. </p><p>Looking down at the child on his chest, Din stroked a finger along one ear, feeling it twitch lightly in Ruhi’s sleep.There was no doubt that Ruhi caught on quickly to the mando’a Din taught him. But the stories...they were something that had fallen a bit by the wayside in the old Covert, after they went into hiding. There had been no time for stories between the lessons in stealth and quiet and defense, and there were too few elders left who still remembered the tales well enough. </p><p>He looked up at the stone ceiling, thinking of the snow bear racing across the night sky with the three hunters behind it. Another image came to his mind, of mythosaurs flying across the darkness, carrying <em> mando’ade </em> in full <em> beskar’gam </em> on their backs, and he smiled. If he could relate the stories he’d heard to Tali, and have her create the images with Din’s help on the details...he thought of the Foundlings in the Covert, able to see and hear the stories of their ancestral people, and excitement flared in him.</p><p>Ruhi should know these stories as a Foundling of the Tribe, just as Soona and Dirk and Mayta and the others should know them. As his eyes slowly closed, lulled by the warm, familiar weight on his chest, he swore he could see the barest outline of a horned skull on the far side of the room, looking over them while they slept.  </p><p><br/>
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  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>The story Tali tells is a traditional Inuit story of the Taurus constellation, also called Nanurjuk and the Three Runners. It is one of my personal favorites. The only element I altered was the change polar bears to snow bears. Many thanks to Itsagoodthing and spacefoxen for the beta reads.</p><p>Mando'a:<br/><em> buir </em>- parent<br/><em> mando'ade </em> - lit. children of Mandalore, Mandalorians<br/><em> yaim </em> - home<br/><em> beskar'gam </em> lit. iron-skin, armor</p></blockquote></div></div>
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